Torn
by Nekisahloth
Summary: Felisa de Pazzi, child of Francesco de Pazzi's wife and an Assassin, struggles to find her place in the world as she is torn between the Assassins and Templars. Guided in dreams by both Altair and deceased Templars, she must decide where she stands. Is there a place for the last Pazzi in this secret war, or is cursed by her traitorous blood to be a lost soul forever?


A/N: Yes, this is in fact a rewriting of the story "Wolf's Blood". Please forgive me for the long wait. Life is crazy, as I'm sure you all know. I hope you enjoy this one as much as you seemed to enjoy "Wolf's Blood".

1502

The Assassins were not coming for her. Ezio was not coming for her. She should have known that when it came down to it, she was not one of them. She was cursed with the blood of a traitor. No matter what she succeeded in doing for their cause, yes, their cause, not her cause, they would never trust her, never consider her an equal. She was a mongrel, the bastard child of an Assassin and a Templar. There was no place in this world for her. She knew that now. She knew it and hated herself for it, hated herself for existing, for ever being born into a world with a secret war that she couldn't understand. She had been broken many times before in her life, but this seemed to be the final time. This seemed to be the final chapter in her life. This was where her story ended. Her final hour was to be had in filthy, blood-covered cell on grounds held by the Borgia.

The worst part was, at this point, there seemed to be little difference between life and death. Perhaps death would even be a relief, a release from her accursed name, from her past, from her present situation. Perhaps it would heal her broken heart, something so strong, yet so easily broken if pressure was put in just the right places.

What did it matter though? They wouldn't kill her until they got the information they wanted, information that she would not give them. She could only hope that they would make a mistake, cut an artery or something else that would kill her before they were fully aware of what was happening. She wasn't sure how the Templars hadn't figured out by this point that she wasn't going to tell them what they wanted to know. Her low standing with the Assassins did not cause her to be disloyal to them, regardless of what they might think.

Her fists clenched. She thought she could trust the Assassins, that maybe they would give her a new life and allow her to explain all that she had done. Ezio had seemed so willing to give her second chance, even after she had threatened his family. Perhaps he was tortured by some sort of twisted guilt for taking the only family she had, the one who had protected her and made sure that she was not thrown out on the streets like trash.

She was torn out of her thoughts by a rattling of the chain on the door as someone unlocked it. Could it really be dawn already? That was usually when the torture sessions took place. How many times had they been in here before? A dozen times? Two dozen perhaps? She had lost count. At this point it didn't really seem to matter.

Unlike the times before, no light rushed to blind her. It was still night. The door opened far enough for her to see the moon, mostly shadowed, high in the sky.

She pulled herself to her feet, determined to face her tormentors with a brave façade. But no Templar stepped inside the small cell. No one entered. The door swung slightly, creaking on its unoiled hinges. It almost seemed to be beckoning her to come outside. She took a few steps, hardly able to stand without toppling over. A few more steps and her balance had improved. She slowly left the cell, pulling the door shut behind her to keep it inconspicuous.

She was startled to see the assassin from her dreams standing a few yards from her, watching her carefully with golden eyes. He shared Ezio's facial scar, but this was not Ezio. His clothing was different. It did not have the same styling as the regular assassin garb. There was no insignia on it for one thing, and it was just much simpler. She didn't think he existed in reality. She had only ever seen him in her dreams.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered, walking closer.

The man didn't answer and instead took off running towards the woods. She quickly followed, although it was difficult for her to keep up with the shape she was in. Her bare feet protested the movement across the grass of the field, the burns from previous torture sessions causing them to feel every blade of grass as though it was a blade of steel. At one point she tripped, landing roughly on the ground, but stifled her pained cry, not wanting to alert any guards that could be nearby. She looked up checking to see what direction the assassin was headed in before getting to her feet, but was surprised to see him standing only a couple of feet away. He had been further away than that when she had fallen. Surely he hadn't come back for her?

As soon as she was back on her feet, the man was running again. Still confused by exactly what she was seeing, she followed him into the woods. He soon slowed and pointed towards a small shack where two horses were tied up. She climbed on the back of the nearest one and he got on the other and began leading her again, this time out of the woods and along, but not on, a road. They traveled in silence like this for what felt like days to her worn body, but could only have been hours judging by the now rising sun.

As new daylight shone down on them, she felt a renewal of energy, not enough to fight with, but enough to start a conversation with the strange assassin who had come to her rescue. "Have we met before, brother?" she asked, leaning forward on her horse to ride beside him.

"I do not believe so," he said with a slight smile, almost teasing her. His voice and accent were just like in her dreams, but unlike anything she had heard before in reality. Perhaps he was from some other group of the Assassin's. But then, how would he have known where she was and how to find her. He could not be that familiar with the country here. She wanted so badly to tell him that she had met him before, in her dreams, but she was afraid she would scare him off.

"Well, uh, thanks for coming to free me." She shrugged awkwardly. "To be honest, I didn't think the Assassins would send someone after me. It's not like I'm a valuable asset to them."

"The Assassins did not send me," he said quietly. She didn't respond and he remained silent, watching her carefully, his golden eyes giving nothing away. They rode without speaking for a few minutes before he spoke again. "I came for a different purpose," he said, meeting her gaze when she looked back at him. Her hazel eyes were filled with rage, but he didn't look away.

"And what is that, then?" she spat. "You assassins are all the same! You simply want to use me as much as you can, but leave me to rot when I need your help! Forget it! I'm done!" She kicked the mare she was riding and sped ahead, only for the man to keep up easily.

"Wait," he said, his voice conveying authority, and yet gentle at the same time. She stopped her horse and glared at him.

"What?" she snapped.

"I understand that you are angry, and confused, but there are things I simply cannot say yet. Know that all will be explained in time." He sighed. "You have a destiny that is unlike most assassins', but your path will be closely tied to theirs. You can try to escape your destiny all that you like, but it will be with you forever. There are things that must be accomplished in your lifetime to set the world in the right direction. Please, I beg of you, heed my words."

"What? Are you nuts?" she asked, laughing at his words.

He frowned and crossed his arms. "You really are stubborn aren't you? Perhaps it was a bad idea for me to come here. I just thought that perhaps words from an old friend would convince you to do the right thing."

Her eyes widened. "You are the assassin from my dreams! What are you doing here? How is this even possible?"

"Dreams are perhaps the strangest thing we experience. You say I visited you in dreams, but how do you know those weren't reality? How do you know this isn't a dream?"

She snorted, laughing at his preposterous statement, but as she began to answer him, her vision blurred, and she found herself somewhere else entirely.

* * *

When she came to, the first thing she noticed were the chains holding her onto the bed. She wasn't back in the Templar cell, but rather she was in one of the Assassin's many hideouts, this one being one of La Volpe's guild sites. Golden eyes watched her from a corner of the room, but not the same ones she had seen in her dream. Had it been a dream? If it was wouldn't she be back in the Templar cell?

"Ezio?" she said tenatively, unsure of why she was tied down. "What's going on?" Last she knew they had been on good terms. They had been hunting for the traitor within the Assassins, presumed to have been Nicolo.

"What do you mean by 'whats going on', Felisa? You tried to kill me in the middle of last nights meeting!" His voice grew louder with each word. "Then you ran off like the coward of a Pazzi you are and got drunk, passed out, and I had to keep several men from assaulting you! Do you have any idea what you've caused? La Volpe thinks you're a threat that needs to be eliminated and Nicolo agrees! I let you work alongside the assassins because I thought that you deserved a second chance, and that maybe your hatred of me would be shadowed by your hatred of those who turned your family name into scum!"

"What are you talking about? I never tried to kill you! Not recently! And why are you trusting Nicolo?" She couldn't hide the confusion in her voice. She truly had no idea of what was going on and Ezio could sense it now.

"You honestly remember none of that?" he asked, concern entering his voice.

She shook her head and he sighed, passing a hand over his face. For the first time she noticed how worn he looked. How long had it been since he had actually slept?

"What do you remember?"

"I… I don't know," she mumbled. "I never went to any meeting. Last I knew we were hunting for the traitor, and we thought it was Nicolo."

He walked closer to her, slowly, carefully, and sat down next to her. "So you don't remember the meeting at all?"

"No," she murmured. "I went out of town to look for leads on the traitor and was captured by the Borgia's men. They tortured me trying to find out information about the Assassins. They burned my feet, see…?" She lifted her foot only to find it completely normal, except for a few scratches and dirt.

Ezio was quiet for a few moments. "I cannot attest to exactly what happened after you left the meeting, but you were there, and you were only missing for a few hours."

La Volpe knocked and entered and Ezio motioned for the other Assassin to come over. Felisa tensed, not sure what was going to happen now. If she really had panicked and gone slightly mad in the middle of a meeting, trying to kill Ezio then who knew what would happen to her now. She was not an assassin and was not bound by their Creed and rules, but she was working alongside them and needed to have a decent relationship with them right now, at least until the Borgia were gone.

She noticed La Volpe's limping gait, his violet eyes watching her carefully. He hadn't trusted her from the start, but she didn't exactly trust him either. She wasnt sure why Ezio trusted him and not her. He was a thief, she was a traitor, and was there really much of a difference?

La Volpe opened his mouth to speak but seemed to think better of it when Ezio shot him a look that Felisa found unreadable. The Assassin shook his head and glanced back at Felisa, as if unsure of what to do now.

"Felisa," Ezio said slowly. "I am not sure how to handle this. You tried to kill me and injured La Volpe in the attempt. I cannot simply allow you to walk free but I do not know how to deal with a situation that the attacker has no remembrance of." Ezio looked over at La Volpe, who shrugged slightly.

"It is up to you, Mentor," the thief said quietly.

"Mentor?" Felisa said quizzically. "When did you become Mentor?"

"Nicolo stepped down from the position. It turns out he was not the traitor, but he felt it was time for someone to take his place. He chose me as his successor. That was what angered you last night. That's why you attacked me."

Felisa shook her head. "Why though? What about it made me so angry?"

Ezio sighed. "You felt that I was unfit for such a position. You stated your mind calmly, but when I response saying you weren't even an assassin and had no right to judge you became angry. La Volpe stepped in between us and you stabbed him in the leg." He paused. "I will admit that I should not have denied you the right to speak your mind. I understand your doubts and you were right to say what you did. I felt threatened and responded in an overly defensive manner."

Ezio's apology only seemed to cause Felisa more stress. "That does not excuse what I did! I tried to kill you again and I don't even remember it! And then I have more crazy visions about some ancient assassin!"

Both men looked surprised at her last statement. "Did you say you were visited by an ancient assassin?" La Volpe asked, his head cocked to one side.

"Yes. He was rather strange. He had an odd accent, and smelled kind of funny. His uniform was different than the ones I've seen before. There was no insignia on it."

"Altair," Ezio said quietly. "It could only be him."

"What did this assassin say?" La Volpe asked, crossing his arms.

"Not much that made sense," she confessed. "He said I had an important destiny that was intertwined with that of the assassins. I've seen him before in dreams. He's given me advice. Usually advice that I didn't follow but should have."

"Did anything else happen in this dream?"

She thought back to her 'dream'. It had seemed so real that it was strange, and felt almost wrong to call it a dream. "I remembered being tortured." She winced, remembering the pain. Could you feel pain in normal dreams? "They wanted to know where the assassins main hideouts were."

La Volpe frowned. "Did you tell them?"

Felisa glared at him, looking almost offended. "No! I did not! I am loyal to your cause, as long as we're taking down the Borgia, whether or not you believe it does not matter to me. I know where my loyalties lie."

La Volpe was unflustered by her outrage. "And Altair showed up only after you denied them?" he asked calmly.

"Yes."

La Volpe considered what she had told him. "It sounds like Altair was testing you. Seeing if he could really trust you."

"Why? What was the point?" Felisa was highly frustrated. Why did Assassins never just say what they meant. Why the riddles?

"I don't know," the thief responded, shrugging. "But it would not be happening if it was not important. Whether or not it was just a dream, or some sort of contact between you and Altair doesn't matter. Either way it means something."

"So, I attempt to murder the new Mentor, and then have visions about an old Mentor trying to test me?"

Ezio had remained quiet throughout their conversation and spoke now for the first time. "I do not think these occurrences are coincidental. I think that Altair has been watching you and when you assaulted me he felt the need to test your loyalty, not to me, but to the Assassins. If he thinks that you passed then I have no place to argue with his belief." He began unlocking the chains that held her to the bed and she stood, feeling a little shaky. "You are free to stay with the Assassins for now. Just, please don't try to kill me in the future." He smirked. "I would hate to have to kill Altair's Chosen One."

Felisa smiled, but it was wan. _If only you knew, Ezio, that Altair is not the only one to have chosen me for a higher purpose._


End file.
